This guy at the Economist (unsigned, so we don't know, but Edward Carr was introducing it in the emails, so let's work on the assumption that he wrote most of this leader) is insta-fired.
I know, I know, Trump Derangement Syndrome (#969515) rules, and the algos mean journos gotta report everything Orange Man SAAAYS... but it's gone from misleading to disingenuous to downright filthy now. Yes, the Harvard-Trump drama keeps dramatically drama-ing (#984924, #972831)
Look, asshats, you're not attacking "science" for withholding some grants to the richest hedge fund on the planet!
with the stroke of a pen, officials are trying to impose new rules that tell scientists what areas of inquiry they may pursue and what is off-limits—a shocking step backwards for a republic founded on the freethinking values of the Enlightenment.
No, they don't...? Stop gaslighting us. This is an exaggerated, hyperbolic, woo-is-me performance worthy of the most fakey footballer diving like an unbalanced ballerina
Is there ANY nuance in the leader to admit this, or government's role in financing science (#984924), or whether what most of these "scientists" are doing is closer to paper pushing or propaganda than science?
No. Nada. Journalistic malpractice. Only the setting up of the position they wish to attack:
Science needs shaking up, he said, because it has become inefficient and sclerotic, and its practitioners have been captured by groupthink, especially on diversity, equity and inclusion (dei).
Because America’s technological and scientific prowess is world-beating, the country has long been a magnet for talent. Now some of the world’s brightest minds are anxiously looking for the exit.
Good riddance. Please leave.
it is not only inclusive education schemes that are being culled, but an array of orthodox science. Funding has been nixed for studies that seek, say, to assess cancer risk factors by race, or the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases by sex. ... everything from Alzheimer’s disease to quantum physics have been stopped.
Good. If these research efforts are valuable, they will be financed by special interest groups or commercial interests (or Harvard's endowment fund...). If not, pretty good indication that they're not very valuable.
Sorry to say that here, the MAGAs are even correct—blasphemy:
maga reserves a special hatred for public-health and climate researchers, whom it regards as finger-wagging worrywarts determined to suppress Americans’ liberties—as they did in lockdowns and school closures during covid-19
Will the real economists at the real The Economist please stand up? No? Nobody?
What would Bagehot say...
non-paywalled: https://archive.md/Cnvtg